Greetings Gastronauts, this is Keef Cooks,
I'm Keef and today I'm going to show you
something that you might think is so
easy that you don't need to be told.
I'm going to show you how to make a proper
British cup of tea.
[ MUSIC ]
Most Brits adore a good cup of tea,
although these days fewer
than used to -
tea sales have been declining for the
last few years however I know from
my travels that tea is a
mystifying thing in many cultures and in
fact, British tea. Other cultures have
their own way of doing tea, and that's
perfectly fine. British tea is something
unique on its own so that's what we're
focusing on. And yes,
it's a topic surrounded by myths, legends,
a fair bit of snobbery,
and just plain ignorance. So anyway,
stick with it, I'll show you how to make
a proper cup of tea - let's do it
Everybody has their own preferences when it
comes to which brand of tea to drink and it's,
it's down to what you like and also
what's available locally. But because I'm
in Yorkshire, I've got to use Yorkshire Tea.
Now this is wonderful stuff, it's
grown on the sun-drenched south-facing
slopes of the Yorkshire hills and dales.
Ummm oh no, it's not, I'm sorry. They don't
actually say where it's grown, but y'know,
there you go Yorkshire Tea. Grand!
So at it's most basic, to make British
tea, you need boiling water and tea.
Now, tea can be in bags or as loose
leaf tea and I don't believe there's any
difference between them, but I personally
cannot stand all the hassle of dealing
with used tea leaves. Whereas tea bags
obviously are much more convenient.
You might also add milk and/or sugar and
if you think are a bit posh, you might
add just lemon. Also again, a personal
thing I think lemon in tea is not nice but
I do like milk and a bit of sugar. Anyway
let's boil the kettle now. And there's two
ways of making the actual tea - you can
do it in a mug, or you can do it in a
teapot if there's more than one person.
Well even if there is one person but y'know,
I think that's a bit fiddly.
So we'll make a mug of tea first. And for
that I want to put one teabag in the mug.
And this is where a lot of
establishments who should know better
just completely fail at the job - any
cafe, restaurant, whatever, that gives you
a pot of hot water and a tea bag to put in
yourself has failed before they've
started. The water must be boilING - not
boilED. So this is what boiling looks like
[ CLICK ]
[ BOILING WATER SOUND ]
[ FURIOUS BOILING ]
and it continues for a few seconds after,
so as long as it's still in that state,
at that stage, you can add it on to your teabag.
OK, it's still boiling. Now just give it one stir...
and leave it for four to five
minutes - or longer if you like really
really strong tea.
So tea drinking in Britain has a bit of
a checkered history. Tea was well-known
in China where they could grow it,
and Tibet/India for centuries since
probably the 6th century and before that.
but it wasn't until the 17th century
that the Brits got their grubby little
hands on tea from China and then later
from India and started shipping it back
to Blighty as quickly as they could.
Because suddenly it was what everybody
wanted to drink. Oh, coffee had been
around in Britain before tea, but for
some reason tee just captured the
imagination of pretty much everybody.
And it has to be said it was far better and
safer to drink tea than to drink, y'know,
just the standard water. And before
coffee and tea, in fact, the standard
daytime drinks were ale and gin. So you
have to wonder about the general state
of sobriety of Brits at that time.
So while that's steeping...
[ CLUNKING, CLATTERING ]
I'll show you how to do the pot method. So the
first thing with a ceramic teapot - feels
cold, so that's going to stop your tea
from steeping immediately. So what you
need to do is warm the pot. It's not just
a thing your grandmother used to say,
it's actual sort of scientific fact.
So give that a swirl and
then pour it down the sink.
Let's do a few shoutouts. There's a couple of
people who were disappointed not to be
mentioned in my previous video about
fish pie. That's Joe Thompson and Washing
Machine Killer. I didn't know that
Washing Machine Killer wanted a shoutout
on fish pie but - and I'm not sure I
did about Joe. Anyway. And also a new
Patreon fan [ CHEERING ] Ted Kissel - welcome aboard, thank you
Now we add the tea. So the rule is - one tea
bag per person and one for the pot - an
extra one for the pot, I don't know why
that is but that's what they say.
So boil your water again...
[ BOILING ]
and pour it over the tea bags.
And put the lid on. And, if
you live in a freezing cold climate or
even y'know, just a normal place in England...
[ LAUGHS ]
you might want to put a tea
cosy on your teapot to keep it warm.
This is the world's best tea cosy, made
by Mrs. Keef Cooks and yeah it's quite
elaborate but it really works - that tea
will still be hot in about two hours'
time. Right, I reckon this tea's more than
done which is OK, because I do like it
strong and tea like this in a mug - very
strong in a mug with milk and sugar is
often referred to as 'builder's tea' as
well. So some milk some naughty stuff and enjoy!
[ SLURPING TEA ]
[ MUSIC ]
Oh yeah y'know, I grew up
drinking tea and then when I left home I
went off it and I got into
coffee. And probably, I don't know, ten
years ago I've got back into tea and I
just love it, it's fantastic.
I'll have coffee now and again but y'know,
for preference, a cup of tea.
Right, that's your lot. If you enjoyed it you
know what to do - give it a like, gimme shares,
give me money if you want.
Thanks for watching, and see you next time.
[ MUSIC ]